The Ladakh Confluence: Roundup

Many would have called it a catastrophe. Others would probably say amiable heresy. Tenacious D could write a ska song about it. But The Ladakh Confluence 2009 seemed to ride above all evil, all hiccups (major and minor both) and well, the scenic splendour of the arid wasteland in the Trans Himalayas provded the perfect backdrop for the four day music festival.

In its maiden year, the extended line-up unfolded over the four days in the very ambitious venue of the highest plateau in the world – Leh. Considering the fact that over 60 artists traveled from across the globe (Terracotta – Portugal, Gateways – Switzerland, Anna Van Reil – New Zealand, Bauchklang – Austria, Rodney Branigan – Canada, Talvin Singh  – UK, Ortal Pelleg – Israel, David Swarupe – Italy) and far reaches of the nation as well (Rajasthan Roots – Rajasthan, Mahesh Vinaykram and Vedant Bharadwaj – Chennai, Shaa’ir + Func and Tribal Flora – Mumbai, Soulmate – Shillong) to congregate with local legends (Rahul Sharma, Ali Mohammad – monks who sings the blues, and Castaways – local rock band as generic as they sound) there was reason enough to pack and head to the mountains.

August 28 to 31 were dates booked over the pasteuring and flat land, situated on the banks of the Indus River that hosts the annual historic festival of Sindhu Darshan each year for the people of Ladakh. Located around 8kms before Leh between the hamlets of Shey and Chagmanslor, the venue was perfect to create a medley of traditional and the contemporary – in terms of culture and music. The organizers couldn’t have picked a more fitting location considering their lineup including artists that border the divide between yesterday and tomorrow. And the fact that artificial stages and permanent arches would make for the ambient environment of the little land, enclosed between high peaks and building infrastructure, was particularly endearing.

Two stages were set-up, the Nyima that ran acoustic gigs and the main stage, the Skarma that pulled power for the headlining acts each evening. Tents scattered around the property were supposed to give a lesson in local Ladakhi art and craft, assisted and spearheaded by Rob from the Mad Show on Pogo and a Film Tent that would screen movies through the day courtesy Sapna Shahani, noted filmmaker.

But overriding the minimal crowd walk-ins, considering how most walking in wore volunteer badges, the total number of some 200 a day who managed to attend the confluence came for the love, peace and the music. Only this was a literal cosmosis of castaway firang bikers and hippies who were willing to dance and trip to everything that had a melodic sound and of course out-of-towners who didn’t mind the idea of the confluence. Celebrity spotting was easy. Purab Kohli and Vasundhara Das seemed to have flown in for a bit of the artists’ haven. But more than a tight stage-to-stage scrambling, The LC was a bass line of loosely connected dots. The artists were seen mostly hanging out like it was an open mic night of sorts and in between the many power failures (Leh has its concurrent blackouts), the best part of the festival were the instant  jam sessions that broke out in between the shows.

And amidst the mediocre and the awkward, the truly notable performances of Shaa’ir + Func, Vedant Bharadwaj, Rajasthan Roots, Tribal Flora, David Swarupe and Ortal Palleg and of course Soulmate clearly stood out. On opening night, the CM of J&K Omar Abdullah arrived to see Talvin Singh and Rahul Sharma open the fest as the headlining act. There seemed to be the promise of better things to come. “I am excited to be here and to be a part of a cultural fest like this. I promise you these young minds will bring in more and I am willing to do whatever it takes to make this work,” he cheekily opined. Chering Dorjay, chairman of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, promised much more in years to come, as ministers tend to do.

There was even unseasonal rain that threatened to disrupt the last day of the confluence, that managed to be saved by a set by Bauchklang who were gasping for breath but threw in a neat performance accompanied by Suchet Malhotra, Vasundhra Das and a jam partner in Harsha from Hyderabad. True to their performances, they closed the Ladakh Confluence over a merger of arms aloft in pandemonic trance.

The organizers in Rayna Jhaveri and Swaati Langeh hoped to have had a better crowd gathering and a tighter show, but excusing the many structural breakdowns, LC was true to its namesake. It was a big jam space in the middle of the mountains and the often idled musician mingled amongst the crowds, invited people on staged, jammed with nu and new inspiration. So what if the locals mostly eluded, except for on day three when the local favourites in Soulmate made sure the discounted Rs. 600 per ticket for the locals, made for a great attendance. Experimental bands in Gateways even saw a bit of the rock fan angst you run into at campus gigs. But the genius in impromptu shows, especially in Rodney Branigan’s appearance three nights of the four made for much entertainment.

The highlight of the festival was the daily Drum Circle organized by ace percussionist Roberto Narain and Priyanka Blah from Tempo Tantrick. In the middle of the expansive field post sunset, the duo would light a bonfire and pass a rhythmic instrument. They’d direct us to a melody and we were all musicians. The confluence made us that in Leh.

This was the scene over the four days. Sunset would gave away to dusk, dusk to twilight, the impenitent tropical pyrexia cooled slightly, but the temperature of the crowd was rising. You would have to be a very dull person – a snob, or a sad cynic – not to enjoy this show. The sound is of symphonic scale, and of course there is the spectacle, especially here, on and off stage – the sight of fans, arms aloft, singing every word of every song.

Follow our coverage of The Ladakh Confluence: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 (was largely rained out)